Only Human
by KingWaspinator
Summary: Two Preads join the Maximals and four stasis pods are located! They are the results of an experiment that shook transformerkind! Fourth in a series.New Chapter up please R
1. Chapter 1

Only Human

Chapter 1

Arrival

By KingWaspinator

This fanfic will star me and my siblings!

Optimus Primal was sitting down in his quarters and contemplating the new Preadcon threat. The five stasis pod that Megatron and his followers had scrounged up had been exceptionally powerful by themselves. When they had formed Deathking however, they were unstoppable. His troops had suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of the combinder. Combination technology had been lost years ago, so how did these Deathcons combine? He sighed. If he had more firepower, he could stop Deathking but only the autoguns and a full Maximal squad could force him to flee. His Comlink started beeping at that point and he answered. "This is Optimus. What is the problem?" Rattrap's voice came over the Comlink. "Boss Monkey, we got two Preads outside, knocking on our door! They want to talk but I say we just shoot them." "Rattrap, just bring them in and I'll interrogate them personally." "You're the boss monkey." Sighing, Rattrap opened the blast doors and went to bring the Preads in.

As soon as Optimus had reached the lower levels of the base, the two Visitors were at a table, eating snacks and energon, with the rest of the Maximals around them. If he recalled right, the green one was called Waspinator and the Gold and aqua one was Quickstrike. He wondered what they were doing here. As soon as they saw him, the both sprang into a salute. Depth Charge just snorted, "Alright, just tell us what you want before I slag you." Both Preads looked at each other and then spoke, "We want to join the Maximals." Everyone was shocked by this. "Why would we accept Preadcons into the ranks?" said Rattrap. Waspinator started speaking. "Megatron is cruel. Makes Waspinator and Two-Heads do dirty work! New Deathcons strong! Waspinator tired of being abused and hurt. Waspinator and Two-Head join Maximals to fight against Megatron!" Optimus looked at Quickstrike. "And your reason is?" Quickstrike looked at him right in the eye and spoke. "Mah reason is that… well, I've been felling bad about Mah self lately. You are fighting against Megs and I want to join for a chance at redemption. Miss Arachnia", Blackarachnia looked at him with surprise. He called her Sugar-bot most of the time. "Miss Arachnia, and You too Silverbolt, I own a big apology to you for fighting against yah and for trying to woo yah. I know you all hate me but give me a chance to redeem myself for my actions." The Maximals were surprised by Quickstrike's statement. Optimus looked at the Preadcons. "We'll just have a discussion on whether you join or we kick you out." Quickstrike shrugged, "Didn't expect anything less." Waspinator was digging into the snacks and he joined him. Optimus looked at them and thought about what to do…

"I'm telling ya, Boss Monkey! We can't let the Preads join!" Optimus looked at the small Rat transformer. "Why not? Dinobot and Blackarachnia joined and both have turned out to be powerful Maximals." Depth Charge spoke now. "There useless. Waspinator has weak armor and even if he wasn't, he is not strong enough to take on any of the Preads except for the demented Ant." Cheetor cut in, "And that fuzor guy isn't much help against them either. His cybervenom shots are useful but they can't do much damage to Transmetels." Optimus nodded. "Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, Rhinox. Is there anything you want to add?"

Silverbolt was first up, "Sir, I believe we should let them join. Waspinator would make a good scout and we need more flyers. Quickstrike would also be good at either guarding the base or on frontline combat." Blackarachnia spoke up now. "I agree with Silverbolt here. We need all the help we can get." Rhinox now added his views. "Both are good soldiers and if they had help from Transmetels or others they would beat Preadcons easily. If we got the Transmetel driver even, that would power them up.' Optimus decided. "Team, as of today, we have two new comrades!"

The two Preadcons were waiting patiently for the Maximals answer. Optimus looked at them and uttered the words, "Welcome aboard." Both former preads felt a new surge of hope flare in their sparks. "Thanks Maximals!! You won't regret this!!" Waspinator was buzzing happily. "Same here!! You need anything, just give me a call!" Quickstrike was jumping around willy-nilly. The computer system then chose to interrupt. "Warning, Preadcon units inbound to base. Stasis pods located. Number: 4." Everyone froze. Optimus recovered the fastest. "Right team, we need to split up!! Quickstrike, Waspinator, Rattrap and Silverbolt will retrieve the pods. The rest of us will combat the enemy head on. All defense autoguns and shields, full power!! Move out!"

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	2. New arrivals

Only Human

Only Human

Chapter 2

New arrivals

The sky was a clear blue, tainted only by two flyers. Silverbolt was carrying Quickstrike and Waspinator was holding Rattrap. The transmetal rodent hadn't taken to the idea until Waspinator said it was a gesture of goodwill. He was still complaining and the rest of them were getting slagged off at the loudmouth.

"Rat-bot shut up!! Waspinator drop Rat-bot and let him walk to Protoforms!!" As you can see, Waspinator was ticked off.

"You wanna try it, ya slaggin bug?" came the reply from the Rat.

"Knock it off, both a ya!" Quickstrike snarled at them as they came nearer to the pods. "The slaggin Preads will hear us."

"I must agree with my fellow fuzor.' Silverbolt was calmly noting as he flew down. "Your bickering just makes it harder to accept Waspinator and Quickstrike as comrades.'

"Whatever, Bolt-boy. I just want the pods and a way to get back to the Cyber Strip joint on Cybertron."

"Well, ya gunna have ta wait, Ratty. Look sharp bots, the pods are directly below us." Quickstrike retorted.

Like he said, the pods were below them. Unlike the usual brand, they had gold markings on them and seemed a bit mysterious. They were sitting on a plain and it was quite near the sea.

"Well, time ta git ta business boys. Let's round 'em up!!" the cowboy fuzor cried as he jumped off the Wolf/Eagle flyer.

"Wait for me, ya stinkin Pread!" the Rat interjected as he jumped off Waspinator.

Silverbolt was noting that Waspinator was breathing a sigh of relief.

"Having problems, are we?" He asked the wasp-bot.

"Waspinator just trying to steel himself for return flight." He shrugged.

Silverbolt nodded as they flew down to the pods.

"Rattrap can be a bother but if you prove yourself to him, you'll have an ally." Silverbolt advised to him.

Waspinator nodded but looked deeply worried about something. His buzzing was higher pitched than usual. He was nervously looking at the sea and the plain.

"What's wrong?" asked the concerned Silverbolt.

"Megatron send Preadcons to get pods. Probably Freak-bot or crab-bot. Or both." Waspinator visibly shivered at the thought of Rampage ripping their limbs off.

"Don't worry, my friend, we can handle them." replied Silverbolt.

Waspinator nodded slowly as they touched down. Quickstrike and Rattrap had reached the pods and were activating them.

"Hey Partner, What are these pods?! Don't look too normal ta me!" exclaimed the Fuzor as he examined the pods markings.

"I don't know, why don't ya zip your mouth and shove it up you're…"

"Rattrap!!" scolded Silverbolt.

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

The pod's internal mechanisms had started up and were scanning for suitable life forms. The estimated time for the nearest one was ten cycles. Plenty of time for the Preads to get there.

The assembled Maximals drew their weapons and glanced round the area. Waspinator and Silverbolt took to the air to get a better look at their surroundings and the other two circled the pods.

"Seems clear." remarked Silverbolt as he flew round.

Waspinator shook his head. "Preadcons sure to send force to take pods."

As he spoke, a missile streaked towards Silverbolt and hit him on the wing. He howled in pain as he crashed down. An optic laser targeted Rattrap's chest but he dodged just in time. The culprits came out behind a rock. Rampage grinned at them as he readied his Missiles again and Dinobot was charging his Optic laser at them.

"You traitors are going to be terminated as soon as we have the pods." Dinobot said smoothly and without remorse as he stepped closer to them.

"In other words, you get handed to me!!" laughed Rampage.

"Over Waspinator's dead body!!" shouted the Wasp.

"Actually, it is over your dead body."

Waspinator didn't reply to that one but fired a dart at Dinobot. It did little damage but stuck in his shoulder. He leered at Waspinator.

"Hardly worth the shot." He said as he fired at Waspinator. However, he was quick on the uptake and dodged the laser. Rampage was about to fire on the bug when a Cybervenom shot and a pistol round caught his attention. Rattrap and Quickstrike were holding smoking weapons and were firing on him.

"That's all you got!?" laughed the insane crab as he walked slowly towards them.

Meanwhile, Silverbolt had recovered and was helping Waspinator against Dinobot but the TM2 was giving them grieve. He had clipped Waspinator's wings and was bearing down on them. Silverbolt had also lost a wing in the fall and wasn't faring as well as you might think. Waspinator was firing at him and he was as determined as they come to stop him.

Rattrap and Quickstrike were taking the most punishment. Rampage was firing Warheads in their direction and they were even more banged up than the others. Rattrap had nearly lost a limb and was dented in places. Quickstrike had lost his left arm and was firing violently at the Immortal life form.

Suddenly, Dinobot blasted Waspinator and nearly sent him into stasis lock. Silverbolt was lying against a tree and was breathing heavily. Rattrap was slammed against a rock and Quickstrike was propped against a rock, too tired to raise his gun.

Rampage laughed darkly. "These ones hardly put up a fight!"

Dinobot just looked at them and said "Time to finish the job."

Which is what they would have done had the first pod opened up and released it sleeping occupant. Everyone looked at the new arrival as he stepped out.

He was a TM2 snow owl and colored White and cobalt blue. His owl eyes were colored yellow and his wings had Ion thrusters in them.

"Snowstorm, Maximize!!" cried the owl. He transformed and stood, glaring at the Preadcons. Like his beast mode, he was white and cobalt blue. He was Silverbolt's height, with the wings behind his back. His head was very much like G1 Optimus Prime's and had Emerald optics. On his sides, he had two energy pistols.

"Leave them alone!" he commanded as he walked to their position. His voice was that of a teenager but he had a calm and concerned tone.

"As if, bird boy!" Rampage snarled as he fired a missile at him.

Snowstorm transformed into beast mode and easily dodged the shot. The thrusters in his wings activated and he circled the Preadcons, too fast to hit.

"Hold still, Maximal!" shouted Dinobot as an optic laser missed.

Snowstorm didn't reply but transformed and fired a barrage of shots at Rampage. They hit the ultimate life form but did little to harm him. He growled as the shots hit and fired a missile. Even if Snowstorm could dodge the shots, he couldn't do it for ever. Just then, the second pod opened and a TM2 black wolf stepped out.

"Wolfang, Maximize!!" He transformed and drew two SMG's. He was Snowstorm's height, he was colored Black with Gray and his claws in beast mode could flip out on his hands. He also had a sniper rifle on his back.

Rampage snarled at him and lunged at him. He smartly sidestepped the blow and fired his dual SMG's. Snowstorm was firing at Dinobot now and was matching him in strength.

"You're good, but I'm better." Dinobot said as he fired an optic laser. Snowstorm reached for a device and activated it. A blue energy shield sprang to life and stopped the blast. Dinobot snarled at him.

"You're just lucky, that's all."

Snowstorm smirked and fired a shot at him in reply.

The third pod opened up and now a TM2 Sabertooth tiger/Great Eagle fuzor jumped out and glanced at his enemies.

"Saberwing, Maximize!!" He transformed and stood proud. He was black with gold and was basically a Tigerhawk repaint but smaller. He pulled a shotgun out and blasted Dinobot's arm with it. He screamed as the shell tore through the arm. It was hanging by a thread and would have stayed that way had not Waspinator's dart finally exploded and taken the arm with it.

"Enjoying it?" smirked Saberwing as he pummeled Dinobot with the butt of his shotgun.

Meanwhile, Wolfang was firing at Rampage and losing. "Slag! What does it take to beat you?" Rampage laughed, "A lot more than you've got!!"

The final pod stopped scanning for suitable life forms and a TM2 dolphin squirmed out of it.

"Flashfin, Maximize!!" she cried and she transformed. She was Blackarachnia's form, just with dolphin parts and she was Aqua and bronze. Her tail had become her right arm and looked like a grappling hook. She fired the hook at Rampage and it stuck in his chest.

"Ha! You're useless at fighting!' chuckled Rampage. "Shut up." Replied the dolphin as she started to swing him around. Eventually, she threw him into the water and activated a taser hidden in the hook. Water + Electricity + Rampage = fried Crab cakes. She smirked and turned round to see the others finishing Dinobot off.

"It's time to perform our ultimate move!" Snowstorm yelled as he pulled out a fan made from his tail.

"Yeah!" agreed the other two.

Snowstorm then used the fan in a sweeping motion to create a tornado. Dinobot was flung into it and was swirling around. Wolfang then unloaded the rest of his ammo into the tornado and watch the bullets hit Dinobot. Finally, the tornado subsided and Saberwing pulled out a large silver shield with a green Maximal insignia. He jumped up as Dinobot fell to the ground and landed, shield first, right on top of him. The raptor was knocked out immediately. The three looked at their opponent victoriously.

The other Maximals had finally gone into Stasis lock after Flashfin arrived. They were beat up pretty bad. They needed medical attention to survive. Snowstorm pulled out a medical pack and started tending to their wounds while the others chatted amongst themselves

End of Chapter 2

Snowstorm=Me

Wolfang=my friend

Saberwing=my little brother

Flashfin=my little sister


	3. Chapter 3

Only Human

Chapter 3

An experiment revealed

Rattrap was having the most wonderful dream. He was back on Cybertron and all his old pals were around him, drinking, laughing and having a good time. An extremely shapely Female was beckoning to him to come over and winking. As he came close to her, she opened her mouth…

"Get up, ya lazy rat!!"

Quickstrike's voice came out and Rattrap recoiled in horror. The room disappeared and he opened his optics to see Quickstrike peering at him. He jumped up and backed away.

"Hey, what ever happened to personal space?" he asked the Fuzor as he glared at him. Quickstrike shrugged and rolled his eyes heavenwards.

"You're lucky to be alive mate." A voice rumbled behind Rattrap. He shrieked and turned round, blaster drawn and pointing at Saberwing's chest. He raised an eyebrow.

"Good reflexes, but you could find out who's friend or foe first." He said to Rattrap. Rattrap lowered his gun and had a good look at him, up and down.

"What the slag are you?!" he exclaimed as Saberwing came closer. Looking to his left, he saw the others and the new transformers.

"Ah, yes. Introductions. My name is Snowstorm. I am equipped with two energy pistols, an energy shield and two energy swords. My wings have Ion thrusters built in and I can reach supersonic speeds. My designs also come with a portable medical kit." The Owl informed the Maximals.

"The name's Saberwing. I've got a katana, a shotgun and a shield. My wings also have dual machine guns installed so I can fire on enemies in beast mode." The TM2 fuzor rumbled as he sat down.

"Wolfang. I am equipped with dual SMG's, claws and a sniper rifle. My beast mode instincts are honed to perfection and that makes me an excellent tracker." He nodded to them and continued to look at the sunset.

"I'm Flashfin. My tail hand can fire as a grappling hook with a taser and I can use an electric pulse rifle when I'm out of range." Supplied the dolphin, finishing the introductions on their part.

"Yeh well, the name's Rattrap and with me are Silverbolt, Waspinator and Quickstrike." Rattrap replied as he pointed at each maximal.

The Comlink on Rattrap's chest suddenly blared to life. "This is Optimus Primal, calling all Maximal units!! The Preadcons are assaulting the base!! We can't hold our position much longer! Please respond!" the transmission was abruptly cut off by a missile blast and Static.

Rattrap looked at the assembled company and uttered four words.

"We're all gonna Die."

"Not yet we aren't." Snowstorm replied. "We have to reach the base before it's taken over. I'll carry Rattrap. Silverbolt and Waspinator, I have reattached your wings so you can get back to base. Saberwing will carry Flashfin (At this, the two aforementioned glared daggers at each other.) and Quickstrike will ride on Wolfang." We are leaving in ten cycles.

Be ready."

The Maximals were heading out to the base but Saberwing had first put Rampage and Dinobot's bodies put together in a very improper position. He even made their lips touch! It was certainly going to be a hilarious scene when they woke up. As they got closer, they could hear the roars of Deathking. Rattrap gulped as he remembered the gestalt.

"We really are all gonna Die."

Optimus looked at the battlefield in despair. It was like stopping a flood or an earthquake. The Preads were starting to win. When the battle had started, Megatron, the Deathcons and Inferno had been blasting at the Maximal forces, destroying all the autoguns in the process and damaging the shields. Inferno had been shot down by Cheetor and Bloodbath had been damaged by Blackarachnia. On their side, Rhinox had been knocked out a few cycles after he started firing with his chainguns. That's when the Deathcons had combined and started smashing everything in sight. Optimus looked up as Deathking smashed the remains of an auto gun.

"NOTHING CAN STOP DEATHKING!!!" he roared at his opponents.

Optimus sighed. They couldn't stop the gestalt with limited forces. It was hopeless. Worst of all, Megatron was gloating his victory over the field.

"It appears that congratulations are in order… to me! You lose, Primal!" the dragon laughed at him. He continued laughing until a sticky bomb latched onto him and blew a hole in his armour. Snarling, he turned to see Rattrap and Snowstorm flying towards him.

"Preadcons, Attack the Vermin and his new friend!!" he shouted at Deathking.

In response, Deathking turned into its five separate components. Bloodbath and Scorpio started attacking the duo when Waspinator appeared out of the skies. As soon as he reached their position, Waspeter immediately zoomed towards him.

"You worthless traitor!!!" she screeched as she collided with him in mid-air. Waspinator said nothing as they swerved around, with her trying to rip his optics out. Suddenly, he shot her at point blank. The shot took out her flight engines and she fell to the ground smoking.

"Waspinator finish She-wasp off!!" he declared as he took aim. Scorpio then shot him. The shot was poor and didn't do any damage but distracted Waspinator and gave Waspeter a chance to blast him.

"Waspinator hate cheap tricks!!" he yelled as he pummelled to the ground.

Scorpio came under siege by Flashfin, who had jumped off Saberwing and was shooting like a madman. Saberwing landed and tried to reach her position but was cut off by Devastation.

"Ah, so you think you can take me, do you?" the transmetal crab jeered as he lunged for the fuzor. Saberwing neatly sidestepped the roundhouse punch that came a second too late and drew his large and long katana. Calmly taking a pose, he faced Devastation head on.

'Bring it on, crabcakes." He challenged the Preadcon. Enraged, Devastation rushed forward…

And was nearly split in half by the sword. He fell to the ground, alive but very damaged. His red optics slowly dimmed as he fell into stasis lock. Saberwing looked at his opponent for a milicycle and turned round to see Ambusher in cannon mode standing right in front of him.

"Oh slag…" Saberwing cursed as the cannon blast hit him right in the chest. He flew back 20 feet and crashed into the rocky walls that surrounded the canyon.

Ambusher smirked as he inspected the damage he had done to Saberwing. A sudden shot rang out and Ambusher fell to the ground in stasis lock. From his position, Wolfang smiled as he holstered his sniper rifle. "Gotcha, mate."

Megatron, sensing that the battle wasn't going well, decided to make a tactical manoeuvre. "All forces retreat!! Gather the wounded and head for base." The dragon commanded as he flew off. Scorpio, Bloodbath and Waspeter gathered their comrades and ran after their leader.

"Well, that's the end of that.' Snowstorm remarked as he landed next to Optimus. The leader looked at him strangely. "What!?"

Soon afterwards, all the assembled Maximals were in the command centre, introducing themselves to each new arrival. "What I don't understand is what those gold markin's were doing on ya pods!" Quickstrike cried.

Snowstorm looked at his fellows before answering. "Well, we are the products of an experiment that took place around the Protoform X catastrophe."

Depth Charge exclaimed "What!?" before drawing his torpedo launcher and pointing right at him.

"Simmer down, Simmer down. We are humans who were turned into Transformers." Snowstorm replied.

Everybody was speechless after the statement. "How is that even possible?" Optimus asked, confused.

"Well I personally don't know but we were supposed to appear before the Maximal Elders. That's why we had markings on the pods. How we ended up here is beyond me."

"Oh I think I can answer that." Everybody turned towards Flashfin. "I hacked into their computer database and did some switching. We were put into the _Axalon _and four empty pods were sent to the Elders!"

"How were you signed up for it?" asked Cheetor.

"We weren't. We were visiting Cybertropolis when we got bashed over the head by some Preadcon mercenaries who were hired by the Elders to capture us." rumbled Saberwing, the giant Sabertooth/Great Eagle trying to make him comfortable in a chair.

"Well, that certainly explains it." Remarked Rhinox as he sat in the console chair. "I'm going to repair the autoguns. Anyone care to join me?"

Waspinator, Quickstrike and Snowstorm instantly raised their hands. The four then went outside the base to begin their work.

"Ya gotta love the big green." Remarked Rattrap.

Megatron sat fuming in his chair as he looked at the film of the new Maximals.

"Hmmm, time to rethink my strategy. Yessss." He quickly opened a channel to Tarantulas Comlink. "My dear Tarantulas, I am in need of your services for a mission.'

Tarantulas's raspy voice came through. "_Why should I help you?"_

"Because I will pay you in Energon and forget about our little "falling out.""

"_Fine but I want twenty cubes."_

"Ten"

"_Fifteen"_

"It's a deal then. Yessss."

"_What do you need?"_

"I am in need of two new control suits, an EMP bomb and two control spiders."

"_I want eighteen cubes for the lot then. The suits will be ready in two weeks and the bomb will be ready in one." _

"Excellent, Yessss." Megatron cut the link and began chuckling. "Soon, the Maximals will get a blast from the past…

Deep in the Nexus Zero, two Vok were watching the events unfold on Earth. Above them, Tigertron's and Airazor's prone forms were lying in stasis lock. The two Vok looked at each other.

"The project has been contaminated further by the activation of the new pods." The first one announced.

"It is time to wipe them out once and for all." The second sighed. "If only they had been destroyed by the Planet buster."

"Do not worry, my brother, I have arranged something that will destroy the Transformers." The first Vok then brought down two other prone forms. One was a clawed scorpion-like transformer while the other had a huge Pterodactyl head on its back.

"I thought these two were destroyed in the Quantum surge!" the second one exclaimed as he looked over the bodies.

"No. I saved them just as they were going to die. I plan to send them and the other two back to their respective factions with some information about our arrival. I always have believed in playing fair. However, their body structures would not survive the transportation."

"Then what do you suggest, then?"

"We will upgrade them into these Transmetal bodies as the transformers call them. That way, they will be able to survive." With that, the first Vok then sent energy into the four Transformers in front of him, mutating their body structures. As soon as the process was done, he sent them towards Earth.

The second Vok was not pleased by the turn of events. "What will happen now? The Transformers will know we are coming."

"I have a plan." The First stated simply as forty two stasis pods descended in front of them. Two blanks came towards them.

"Get in, brother." The first commanded as he entered the first pod. The pod shook and dented in some places. After some time, a giant winged figure shrouded in shadows stepped out. The second could only watch speechless.

"It is time for you to change too, brother." The figure said, motioning towards the other pod.

The second nodded and entered the second pod. After the same sequence, a giant nine tailed figure smashed out of the pod and stood tall. Purple energy gathered around the tails and unleashed a beam that completely obliterated the remnants of the Pod. The first Transformer/Vok just shook his head and grabbed the others shoulder.

"What is your name?" The second turned to him in some confusion. "Our names can not be said in the language of the Transformers, so we must choose new names for ourselves."

The second thought for a second before answering. "I'm Ninetails." The first let out a short laugh and replied, "A pleasure to meet you, Ninetails! You may know me as Razorclaw. Now, I need an army. Luckily, there's one on hand." He hit the rest of the pods with a vivid green energy that caused a _ZZZZZ _noise around them. After it stopped, nothing happened. Just as Ninetails was about to ask a question, one of the pods buckled and released a transformer. Then another pod buckled and another, until there was a multitude of Transformers facing the brothers.

"It is time for the Maximals and Preadcons extinction!!!"

**Will Megatron's devilish Plan come to fruition? What will the uproar be when Tigertron, Airazor, Scorponok, and Terrorsaur return? Will anyone survive the coming storm in the form of the Vok army? Find out in the next instalment of the Clear Skies series, Survival of the Fittest!! **


End file.
